Joyride is beneath Tinashe and we should collectively expect more from her. There’s no need to prop it up with vacuous praise when Aquarius, Nightride and the mixtapes are all a testament to her talents as both an artist and songwriter.
Hm. It definitely felt like Tinashe as presented through management/record label/committee, but there's no denying there is at least two definite career highs (No Contest, Faded Love) and a small handful of usable frothy bops. As a follow-up to the one, two, three punch of Aquarius/Amethyst/Nightride it does not hold up well at all. Joyride mostly retreads tried and true Tinashe tropes without offering new perspectives. Ooh La La is a cute jam about getting some, but then Nightride houses: the menacing and aggressive sexual appetite of Company, Sacrifices which turns more into an exploration of lust-turned-love riding the line between sheer carnality and emotional warmth, and Spacetime literally put pussy in space.
I
like Joyride. But it's ersatz Tinashe and the passion really isn't behind it like all her other projects. I'm looking forward to whatever is coming next.
